The first day of qualifying for the 108th running of the Indy 500 and in this short mid afternoon update we catch up with all three new Zealand drivers that have currently made the show.
So hear from McLaughlin, Armstrong and Dixon in this day 1 update on Racing World.
you’re enjoying racing world it’s brought to you by prospective group it’s your Global Motorsport podcast show brought to you in conjunction with race control magazine well welcome to another edition of racing world it’s the first day of qualifying for the 108th running of the Indie 500 presented by gamebridge and boy oh boy so far with still 2 hours to go what an amazing day it’s been we’ve had a car in the wall Reus VK on his first attempt and boy there was a lot of damage done to the Ed carpenter racing car but it will be back out but it caused a little bit of a delay we’ve had dramas for the gessi team dramas for the McLaren team it’s been all over the place but the three kiwis are currently in the show which is the one thing that counts there’s a few that are on the bubble we”re seeing Graham raill go from being very confident to suddenly very nervous and back in that back row yet again for the second year in a row so the cars I think overall are struggling for a little bit of speed and only one week ago they were on this very road course for the Indie Grand Prix and now they’re on the big oval and the Grand Prix track becomes pretty much just a service road and we get to get our Thrills driving down it every morning as well and the first key we out on track today was kiwi Scott mlin second car of the day to be out on the track temperatures were a little bit cooler then there had been a lot of heavy fog overnight um that was starting to burn off but it was pretty much the ideal time to be out there and mlin set the timeing sheets alive that’s for sure he’s very uh very calm and relaxed actually and I got to talk to him straight after that Fallout run so Scott been out early in the draw today was that much of a difference for that first run I we’ll see uh you know I think our our our run was strong but it’s just getting hotter and hotter here so um yeah it’s going to be interesting how that holds up obviously the shunt right now for VK is probably you put pushed a lot of people further back even you know people that are early in the draw so it’s going to Chang a few things for sure but I think um thank you it’s nice to get this uh you know get our run out of the way and we’re okay NBC was saying J your run that the temperature come up nearly 1.5° during that period is that something that you actually notice in the car is there a grip change or anything like slowly a grip change but I think that’s more my feel was from Tire degradation over the four laps but um it’s about managing your tools to that run and I felt like we did a pretty good job with that and I think we put four solid laps up and then just final thing I’ve watched you for the last few years here now at this time of the day how did you shut everything down before you get in that car he got good people around me uh and process you know like just working on it’s not it’s it’s not any different it’s the same execution that you need to hit every time and uh whether it’s Barber whether it’s Portland whether it’s the n500 you just need to be ready to go when the time comes and um work really hard on that good job man thanks y thank you guys well mlen looking good and still on the front row and I think that’s ideal for tomorrow tomorrow going into when they have the fast N9 or fast 12 shootout um because all you’ve got to do is stay in that game and be within that bubble period so he’s looking pretty good for now and you know as I said here we are at the Grand Prix track inside this amazing facility there’s a golf course just over there as well it is just unbelievable for anyone who hasn’t been here before you’ve got to put it on your bucket list for those new zealanders who I know who are coming up here very shortly in the coming days you’re in for one heck of a treat the weather is building the temperatures building it’s building up to another great race the second kiwi that was out on track this morning and the second of the gassie cars was none other than Christ Church born Marcus Armstrong and boy oh boy Marcus ramped it up another notch and it was a great performance from him and we caught up with him as soon as he’d finished that Fallout run well Marcus the very first qualifying it didn’t he what was it like out there the emotion before going out for that Fallout run yeah there’s a big buildup to to those four laps um honestly it was probably the most difficult fallouts I’ve had since we started doing qual runs yesterday the wind is a bit different today as you can see VK has spun at 3 the the wind is sort of pushing you through there and and honestly it was uh a bit of a surprise uh the balance I had so I spent the first two laps just trying to fix that and then uh the last two laps just hanging on so it’s it’s all part of the fun just just the emotion when you’re sitting in the car before that run starts it’s got to got to take its toll on you a little bit as well doesn’t it um yeah but you have to block it out and um when you’re actually in the car and you know you’re sort of a bit more comfortable when you’re standing around talking to people that’s when it’s just a bit iy um but yeah I’m a racing driver when you get in the car put the helmet on it’s business as usual and then a unique thing Andy we were watching you with the the cap dance at the end after you’ve done your qualifying run it’s quite a quirky little ritual isn’t it with all the different caps you’ve got to wear it sure is um yeah some guy was getting angry at me cuz I have my my water bottle there I was like dude chill out um yeah I guess that’s just part of the 500 there’s a lot of stuff we have to do away from the track this week and next week so trying to eliminate the distractions focus on the driving great moment having Rick there as well yeah he’s he’s it’s like watching a spaceship go by he said so um he’s little excited and it’s cool to have him here hopefully next year I’ve got the whole family here too really great to see that effort from Marcus Armstrong and you know teaming up with a great team like chip gesse racing and of course he’s got Angela Cullen with him this year who was formerly with leis Hamilton and Formula 1 and uh spoke to her just after his qualifying run and she was very bued up over the whole thing and believes that Marcus can win races this year and even a championship next year so Angela seems to be in for the Long Haul with Marcus and uh that’s a great sign of things to come as well really great talking to her and of course another kiwi as well so kiwis are certainly every everywhere and Rick’s father was very happy and Marcus a pedigree of the Motorsport New Zealand Elite Academy so lots of positives there then it was on to the main man six time NT Indie Car Champion Scott Dixon went out early in the morning wasn’t happy with the car they decided to do an engine change after talking with Honda and themselves engine came out spent most of the day doing that wasn’t until nearly 3:00 that the car went back out in the heat of the day for Dixon uh a position that he’s just not really often seen at it Indy and uh he put the car in through it four laps to get into the show ultimately at this stage he was 17th as I’m recording this not a good spot for him not happy and I’m sure we’ll see another run from Dixon before the day is over but here’s what he had to say after those first four laps for you sitting out a day as long as you have today does that play on your mind at all or is it still just business as normal uh no it’s just generally you’re you’re not going in ideal conditions you know much easier this morning you I think we would have run a probably a mid to a high 232 if it was this morning so you know is what it is we should have done the engine change last night um seemed like it pulled definitely better you know than what we had this morning but you know can’t change anything so we’ll we’ll work on a little bit if we get some better conditions afternoon we’ll probably have another track at it was going to say what we’ve seen over the last couple of days it’s going to get cooler around 5:00 is it potenti yeah you know maybe track temp we’ll see you know I think uh temperature is probably going to hold hold on quite long today so you know we’ll see it all comes down to a week away yet anyway manyways you obviously you want to qualify as high as as high up as you can but where we are at the moment 17 or 18 so got a little bit of work soon well as I’m finishing off this all 34 cars have now posted a Time VK got back out there as well so we have cars in there we have about an hour and a half left to go on this the first day of qualifying who will make that 12 that’s yet to be decided who will be on the back row yet to be decided so there’s a lot of things that are going to happen in the next hour but the kiwis certainly are in the show Dixon probably the most unhappiest of the whole lot not a place that we used to seeing Dixon that’s for sure and uh you know like anything you can win from anywhere in this race it’s just a case of how the race plays it out and and what it does and the race of course is still over a week away so anything can happen there and particularly in Indiana at this time of the year with the weather and the temperature and all of those factors but day one of qualifying as done we have another report for you tomorrow on day two which will cover of course that battle for the front row and the $100,000 US for taking pole position and then the battle for the back row and of course car number 34 whoever that may be won’t make the start for the indd 500 until tomorrow it’s racing World from Indianapolis Motor Speedway the racing capital of the world
